


By Your Side

by caelestislux



Series: Evillustrator and Reverser One-Shots [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akuma Possession, Akumatized Main Character(s), Akumatized Marc Anciel, Akumatized Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Coffee, Dorks in Love, Episode: s01 Le Dessinateur | The Evillustrator, Episode: s02 Reverser, Evillustrator - Freeform, M/M, Romantic Fluff, reverser - Freeform, they're still akumatized this whole time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelestislux/pseuds/caelestislux
Summary: Once again, Nathaniel is akumatized into the Evillustrator on his birthday after a series of upsetting events. But this time he's not the only one.
Relationships: Inverso | Reverser/Le Dessinateur | The Evillustrator, Marc Anciel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Evillustrator and Reverser One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839367
Comments: 7
Kudos: 55
Collections: MarcNath Fics!





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> Another one! Again, the first two don't have be read to read this, but they can!

_“And since both of you have failed me before, you will immediately focus on getting the miraculouses before getting your revenge.”_

His voice had become a backdrop at this point, just a droning noise that both attempted to ignore as they made their way to the heart of the city. Reverser glanced over at his partner—his boyfriend—and was simultaneously surprised and amused to see the annoyed expression on his face. Half-closed eyes, pursed lips forming a scowl, and a blank stare. As Reverser watched, Evillustrator uncrossed his arms to yawn into his hand.

“You look exhausted.”

Evillustrator glanced up at the sudden conversation. “Hmm?”

But before Reverser could repeat what he’d said, the butterfly masks appeared once again, indicating Hawkmoth’s growing irritation at the two of them. He was _always_ like this. Reverser had absolutely no idea who Hawkmoth was when not a villain—he had to have a civilian identity, right?—but he must’ve been an exhausted, perpetually annoyed man. Not the type of person who could just walk around unbothered. Reverser didn’t particularly know how he felt about Hawkmoth, but he did think that the man was more than a little delusional in how he behaved himself. 

_“Are you two listening to me? I demand that you focus on the miraculouses this time. I want to see none of your disrespectful_ —”

“We will.” came Evillustrator’s response, voice tinged with an air of chagrin. 

_“I mean it, leave no time for your silly outings. Believe me, if your emotions were not as strong and powerful as they are, I would refrain from bringing the two of you back at all. However, you are both sensitive artists, and therefore are useful to me.”_

“Fine, whatever.” Reverser threw up his hands in mock exasperation, eyes narrowed. “We will get the miraculouses and then focus on our revenge.” It was an annoying compromise, as they both knew that Hawkmoth probably would take their powers if his desire was fulfilled, but they didn’t dare to push it too much.

Thankfully, this seemed to quiet Hawkmoth for the time being. To be fair, he _was_ the one who allowed them to have the power they needed to accomplish what they pleased, yet at the same time he could be so overbearing when he was the one who prompted his chosen villains to seek their love or revenge in the first place. Not to mention his power to control the aforementioned villains as blackmail. As far as Reverser knew, Evillustrator was the only one that Hawkmoth had used it on, but that just made it worse. If it had been any other villain, Reverser honestly wouldn’t care, but he would quite literally risk his life for Evillustrator, so thinking of what had been done filled his brain with indignation. 

As his partner’s butterfly mask faded, he watched as Evillustrator pressed his lips together, digging his feet into the sidewalk as they made their way to the place where the hoverboard had been parked. The artist’s eyes flicked towards the side, catching onto the fact that his silent discontent was being viewed.

“Something wrong with you? Besides what we’re both angry about, of course.” Reverser asked. As sharp as his tone tended to be, there was genuine concern hidden beneath. And when the other didn’t reply right away, his focused outer appearance faded away as his protective response was triggered. “Who upset you? _What did they do?_ ”

“Well . . .” Evillustrator hesitated, mindlessly flipping his tablet’s pen between his fingers. Reverser, a writer fully used to holding a writing utensil, had always secretly envied his ability to twist the pen in his hands like that. “You know it’s my 16th birthday, and just . . . last year I got rejected by my crush, and then we didn’t get to spend the day as civilians because the publisher dropped us so we got akumatized. And now we can’t do anything under our orders. And no one in my class said anything . . .” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I know it’s stupid, that we should be focusing on the miraculouses so Hawkmoth isn’t upset, but—”

Reverser stopped, causing the other to stop as well. He took the artist’s hands in his own, causing Evillustrator’s face to flush a darker purple for a moment, lips parted slightly in surprise. Not without reason, as both knew that it was less common for Reverser to be the one who performed romantic gestures. “C’mon, I have an idea.”

“Rev, what—?”

“We have to get the heroes’ attention, right?” He let go with one hand and strode forward, pulling his confused boyfriend with him. “Well, let’s get their attention.”

Reverser stepped onto his hoverboard, the black and white of his boots juxtaposing with the same duality of the paper plane. Accustomed to this system by now, Evillustrator stepped onto the back, making the thin sheet of paper wobble but ultimately remain stable. They then took off into the sky.

“Where are we going?” he asked, clinging to Reverser’s shoulder with his free hand. The other clutched his pen. 

“You’ll see.”

“Really Rev, you don’t need to do anything about my birthday. It’s already better than last year, and the present you gave was more than enough. You put so much effort into writing it—”

“That was from Marc to Nathaniel, not me to you. And I don’t like seeing you upset.”

With that, Reverser lowered his hoverboard to the ground, right at the edge of a small cafe that Marc and Nathaniel tended to frequent when working on their comic book. Since it was not too long after lunch, several people were sipping their drinks or talking with their friends out on the patio. However, the arrival of the two akumas sent most into panic mode, causing them to hide and leave their personal belongings behind. 

Reverser leapt off of his hoverboard, brandishing a paper plane in his hand, expression laced with delight. He threw open the doors with a bang, causing everyone that hadn’t noticed the commotion from outside to jump at the sudden noise. 

“I demand that you hand over whatever he wants.” Reverser announced. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of Evillustrator, who had just entered the building as well, though apparently he couldn’t be bothered to use the door properly as he’d erased a large opening to walk through instead. He certainly was dramatic, but Reverser found it endearing, a nice juxtaposition to his own driven personality. 

The barista mouthed something to one of the other employees, likely an instruction to call either the heroes or someone else who would call the heroes themselves. Good. That was part of the plan. 

“Sir, we can’t—” the barista attempted, then faltered as she seemed to realize all at once that she was trying to reason with an akuma. “I can’t give you anything for free.”

“I see. You seem brave, good. Now let’s see what happens when you’re a little more generous! _Reversion!_ ” He hurled the paper plane at the barista, who hadn’t even expected it and wasn’t able to deflect. 

“Oh, hello! What would you like to order? It’s on the house.” she spoke, her previous tone of protest having become cheerful. Still in a confused haze, Evillustrator rattled off a couple items, including two coffees. The barista then immediately started to make the first coffee. A couple of the other employees tried to stop her, but a few more paper planes fixed that quickly enough. Of course Evillustrator could've just drawn some euros to purchase everything, but that wouldn't cause the same alarm as stealing, and they needed to get the heroes to come to them. And within a few minutes, the order was completed and the two headed outside to the patio, the perfect spot to watch out for Ladybug and Chat Noir’s arrival. 

Now they had maybe five minutes before the heroes showed up to defend the cafe and fight them. And that’s when the two akumas could put some of their latest comic book ideas into use, hopefully acquiring the miraculouses. As civilians, they had come up with plenty of unique schemes for their heroic forms to accomplish within the pages of their comic, many of which would probably work.

“Here.” Reverser announced, pulling a chair out of a nearby table. They both were aware of the fact that Evillustrator could draw his own chair if he so pleased, a far fancier one than the ones the cafe provided, but that wasn’t the point. So he took a seat, blinking slowly in surprise. Reverser did the same, choosing a chair next to the first so that they were side by side.

“You’re stealing my brand.” the artist remarked, sipping his latte. “I’m the one who takes people on dates.”

“Maybe so, but the fact remains that it’s your birthday.”

That seemed to be the right thing to say, as Evillustrator grinned, moving so that the two of them were even closer. And when they were close enough to touch and lean against each other, he gently rested his head on Reverser’s shoulder, his swept-up hair lightly tickling the other akuma’s cheek. “Aw, that’s so sweet, Rev.”

“I just hate seeing you unhappy, _Evie_.”

If possible, the other’s grin widened as he sat up to make eye contact. “Oh, you said it. You said the nickname.” 

And without waiting for a response, he closed his eyes and leaned forward, lightly resting a hand on the back of Reverser’s hood. The writer mimicked his movements, pulling the two of them together and closing the gap between them. Reverser’s lips met his boyfriend’s and he could sense the emotion in the other’s kisses, the hurt that had been building over the course of the day replaced with joy. He pulled his fingers through Evillustrator’s wild hair, unable to stop a smile from forming at the other’s sweet, contented sigh. In return, the artist moved a hand to his back, pulling them even closer, if possible. 

“Thank you.” Evillustrator mumbled against the other’s lips, his voice quiet, his breath soft. 

“What was I supposed to do? _Let_ you be upset?”

“No, not that. Thank you for staying by my side. I’ve had a lot of failed crushes before, and it’s incredible to find someone who loves me the way I love them.” He took a deep breath, eyes opening and flashing mischievously. “And you _love_ me.” 

“That’s mushy. But yes, I love you.” 

And with that, they moved back into a kiss. Their palms pressed together, interlocking fingers as the world around them faded from their perception.

Evillustrator was the one to finally break away, the smile remaining on his lips as he picked up his latte again. “I’m going to finish this. I doubt it’s a smart choice to drink coffee while we fight, and Ladybug and Chat Noir should be here any minute.”

Reverser nodded his agreement. “I’ll watch for them. If they don’t see us, I could reverse them before we fight, make them clumsy and fearful again.” And as he spoke, a paper plane formed in his right hand. 

But even as they moved apart, preparing for their inevitable fight and win-or-lose situation, their free hands still clung to each other, a silent promise, a wordless declaration of their relationship. Because even as akumas, villains twisted by their hurt and pain, they stayed together, remaining by each others’ sides until the end. 

And they weren’t going to let anyone break that.

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly based off a pattern. In Evillustrator's episode, his emotion got built up over the course of the day, with the final straw being perceived deception, which caused his anger to become explosive and dangerous. Here, it's the same sort of thing: his birthday being unmentioned, an event that caused him to become akumatized, and then Hawkmoth scaring him into being unable to do the one thing that made him happy the last time (going on a date). But Reverser found a way around that order, which destroyed that anger. Just goes under the assumption that Nathaniel/Evillustrator thrives with a good support system.
> 
> And in my interpretation, Reverser would usually have a lot more teasing/banter, but that's dialed back when seeing how upset his boyfriend is.


End file.
